Stinger

by KJ Dahlen

  Fallen had tears running down her cheeks as she listened to the story. The whole in her heart grew bigger but at least now, she knew what it meant. She felt it begin the day her sister disappeared. “So the gators got her?” She glanced over at Wynette.

  Wynette shook her head slowly. “No, the gators never got her. She must have dropped the necklace because I never found it. But no, the gators didn’t get her. I dragged her out of the pond then I found a place where no one would find her and I buried her there.”

  Fresh tears rolled down her face and she looked at Wynette. “Thank you for that. Jolene was afraid of the gators for good reason. She would have hated to have them tear her body apart like they do.” Then she lifted her head and looked around the room. “So what are you guys going to do to fight back? Anything? Nothing? I hope you got something in the works because that family needs to be stopped. My sister wasn’t the only one they murdered in cold blood.”

  Ajax growled. “The same man that murdered your sister also murdered my brother and Wynette was blamed for his murder. The Zetran’s and this fucking town hid behind lies and no one even tried to tell the truth back then.”

  “We’re going to bring hell down on the whole fucking town for what they did and let happen.” Fireball snarled.

  Fallen shook her head. “That would be a mistake. You can’t blame the whole town for the actions of a few.”

  “Sure, we can sweetheart.” Fireball growled. “They let it happen and they allowed this corruption to go on for years now.”

  “If you do this, then you’ll be as bad as the men who hold this town under they’re thumb right now,” Fallen claimed. “You’ll be just as dirty as they are.”

  Stinger stepped back from her. “What the hell are you saying woman?”

  She turned to face him trembling. “If you’re going to do this, then do it for the right reasons. Otherwise, the people that live here are just trading one master for another. Do I want justice for Jolene? Yes, I do. I want to see Liam fucking Zetran pay the price for what he did to my sister. Am I going to charge at him head on? That would be foolish on my part don’t you think? He’ll just end my life as well and probably get away with it again.”

  “So what are you saying here?” Ajax wanted to know.

  “The people that live here want to do the right thing. They hate being under the control of the Zetrans and their servants. Such as the Sheriff and his minions. There are a few of the business men that they bow to as well and they hate it. Old man Zetran ran our family out of town after Jolene disappeared to hide what Liam did to her. Did you know this town is a distribution port for designer drugs? People know about it but it’s a secret all the same. They know it but they just don’t talk about it. People have disappeared all the time but nobody ever says why, they just don’t talk about them. They are afraid to say too much or they will end up disappearing as well.” Fallen shook her head.

  “That’s what we want to stop,” Ajax told her. “We want to rip control away from the Zetrans and everyone who works for them. We live here too, you know. This club is ours and the Zetrans are threatening us too. The only mistake we made was asking questions and finding out the truth about what happened to my brother.”

  “They want me and my friend Karley dead now, because they think we told the MC the truth.” Wynette shrugged. “And we did but they can’t let the truth be known can they?”

  Chapter Five

  Fallen just looked at Ajax and said, “Please just don’t blame the whole town on a few. They aren’t bad people but they have been repressed for years.” Her eyes fell on Joel Fletcher. “Ain’t that right, Mr. Joel?”

  He nodded. “I have to agree with her. I haven’t done my fair share either in stopping them. I was too concerned for my granddaughter to do much.”

  Ajax looked at the men around him then back at her. “We’ll try not to blame the whole town but there will be people caught up in the backblow.”

  Fallen nodded then stepped closer to Wynette. “Thank you for taking care of Jolene all those years ago.” She took her hands into hers. “I wish we’d known before what happened. Things might have ended up being so different.”

  “If you had confronted Justice Zetran at the time, he would have made your family disappear,” Wynette assured her. “He wasn’t going to turn Liam over then and he’s not going to do it now. We’re trying to get enough evidence together to make a strong court case.”

  Fallen snorted. “They won’t get a trial around here, fair or not.”

  “That’s why we’re not going to do it on a local level,” Ajax told her. “That is why we need to find something that crosses state lines, so it can go to a federal court.”

  “Something that crosses state lines?” Fallen asked as she tilted her head.

  Wynette studied her carefully. “You know something don’t you?”

  “Maybe but it could be a long shot. Things have changed a lot around here in the last ten years.” Fallen shrugged.

  “What is it?” Ajax was curious now.

  “Well, my dad used to work at the stockyards ten years ago. Most of the cattle were from the Zetran ranch and they had the meat shipped all over the nation. My dad worked in that department.” She moved over to the table and sat down. She’d been on her feet all day and she was tired.

  Everyone else moved over as well and they all sat down.

  Fallen went on, “After we left Athens, my dad started to drink, he drank a lot. And when he drank he would talk about this place. One of the things he said over and over again, was the fact that he knew someone was shipping out some kind of contraband in the meat shipments.”

  “What?” Fireball asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “It never made any sense to me either but he insisted it was true. He insisted some of the shipments that would go to Texas and Arkansas had a little something, something added to them. He never knew what it was but he’d said those shipments were special ones. They were even guarded until the trucks came to pick them up.”

  Ajax looked around at his men.

  Moon put what they were thinking into words, “Maybe that’s why we never noticed anyone picking up the drugs. They could be shipping out their product and no one would even know it.”

  “It’s the perfect cover isn’t it?” Moon stated. “Why would anyone stop a refrigerator truck full of meat?” He shrugged. “It’s just a truck making deliveries right?”

  “But that would depend on who is receiving those shipments wouldn’t it?” Fireball suggested.

  “I know of at least one place that received those shipments,” Fallen told them.

  “Who, and where?” Ajax asked.

  “My dad mentioned one name to me. The main person those special shipments went to, and I never forgot it. Barnaby Hudson in Hot Springs, Arkansas.”

  Ajax growled as he frowned. “Barnaby Hudson? Are you sure about that?”

  Fallen nodded.

  “Well, fuck a goddamn duck,” Ajax swore.

  “Boss, who is Barnaby Hudson?” Fireball asked him.

  Ajax glared at the other man. “Barnaby Hudson is the President of the Silver Piranhas MC. His road name is Red Fish.”

  Fireball sat back in his chair. “Well shit, I know that name.”

  “We all do Fireball.” Stinger shook his head. “And none of the stories I’ve heard associated with that name are very good.”

  “That because the man is an animal.” Ajax snorted.

  “The first thing we need to do is confirm the information,” Moon suggested. He glanced over at Fallen. “Not that we doubt you, but we have to go forward on the evidence, not just rumors.”

  Fallen just sat there for a moment, as she looked troubled.

  Wynette stared at her. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Well, when my dad was working at the stockyard, there used to be a back way inside the offices. I don’t know if it’s still there or not but it’s almost time to send out another shipment.”
>
  “What do you mean it’s almost time?” Ajax barked.

  “Those shipments always went out like clockwork, every ninth, twentieth and thirtieth of every month. Today is the eighth of the month.”

  “No! Absolutely not. You’re not going in there to get what we need,” Stinger told her emphatically. “Boss, you can’t let her do that. Its suicide if she gets caught.”

  Ajax paused and raised a brow at him. Then he shook his head. “He’s right. We can’t let you do that.”

  Fallen smiled softly. “You can’t stop me.”

  “The hell we can’t.” Stinger growled. “Just try and leave here, if you think we can’t stop you.”

  Fallen turned her head and glared at him. “You can’t be serious?”

  “Watch me and find out.” He glared back at her.

  Everyone in the room stared at them.

  The pair scowled at each other, like they were facing off.

  “You do remember what happened when you came up behind me a half hour ago, don’t you?” she quipped.

  His eyes went beady. “You can’t take me by surprise twice in a row, little girl.” Stinger growled.

  Stepping back, Fallen huffed. “Watch me and find out,” she tossed his words back at him.

  Ajax shook his head again, but he did let out a small chuckle.

  “Wait, wait,” Fireball interjected. “What surprise? What is she talking about?” He looked over at Stinger.

  “Just never mind that,” Stinger said, as he did not take his eyes off of Fallen.

  “Okay, okay... you two can’t fight like this,” Joel cut in. “There might be another way to get what you need and no one here has to leave the compound. I’m not sure he’ll do it but there’s someone inside the stockyards that’s like her dad. He works as a security guard over the whole place and has access to every office in the building.” Joel looked over at Fallen. “He probably knew your dad. Maybe he would get what we need.”

  “Anyone but John Greerly.” She snarled. “He was no friend of my dad’s, that’s for sure.”

  Joel shook his head. “Yeah, John told me about what happened. But child, you couldn’t be more wrong about that. John was loyal to your dad and so was your mother.”

  “He slept with my mom and that broke my dad’s heart. Some loyalty,” Fallen grumbled.

  “But he didn’t sleep with her, he wouldn’t and she didn’t ask him to. Your mother loved your dad and what happened was a misunderstanding,” Joel insisted.

  Ajax cleared his throat. “This is more information than we needed to know, don’t you think old man?” He looked at Fallen next. “What happened between them is their business and not yours, understand? You don’t really know what happened or why it happened and we don’t need to know either. If your parents are still together that’s between them. We need this information and you aren’t going in to get it.”

  “But—”

  Ajax growled, “Enough. I’m not risking your life on this.”

  Fallen sat back and crossed her arms over her chest, just glaring at them.

  Stinger gave her a firm nod.

  She stuck her tongue out at him, like a child would.

  Stinger stood very still as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

  Ajax nodded at Joel and said, “Make the call, whether he will or won’t, we’ll find out.”

  Chapter Six

  Joel went to his bedroom and made the call, catching John just as he was leaving to go to work. “Hey John, this is Joel Fletcher.”

  “Hey Joel, what’s up?” John replied.

  “Well, this might be a problem but I have to ask anyway. You know how Sheriff Munroe has been looking for Wynette right?”

  “Yeah,” John growled. “That little bastard wasn’t happy with throwing her in prison on a trumped up charge, now he’s looking for a reason to send her back for another trumped up reason. What’s his problem anyway?”

  Joel snorted. “He’s working for Justice Zetran.”

  “Most of this town is,” John admitted in an ugly tone.

  “True, but I think Justice is losing it, my friend,” Joel stated. “He used to be a man I respected, a man I admired but he isn’t that man anymore.”

  John hesitated and finally said, “Talk like that could get you in trouble man. Everyone in town knows that.”

  “After what he and his family have done to the people in this town, you still stand up for him?” Joel scoffed. “I thought you were a man of principal my friend.”

  “Hold up, old man.” John growled. “All I said was talk like that could get you in trouble. I didn’t say anything about me turning you in. I hate that old bastard and his kin. They’ve ruined more good people than they ever helped. Remember Dan Whitman? They fucking ruined him and his family.”

  “Yeah, they did.” Joel sighed. “His grandson Liam murdered Dan’s daughter Jolene.”

  “What did you say?” John demanded.

  “You didn’t know?” Joel asked, “Well, I guess you aren’t the only one that didn’t know. Yeah, old Justice told Dan that he had to leave town and leave his family alone. He didn’t care that Dan was hurting. He didn’t care that Dan had questions he would never get answers to. No, he was protecting his grandson, again.”

  “Are you sure Jolene is dead?” John asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Did you ever wonder about that scar on Liam’s face? Where he got it or who gave it to him? He got it the day he snapped Jolene’s neck in a fit of rage.”

  “Holy shit,” John swore under his breath. “Can you prove this?”

  “Yeah, we can prove but we need more to bring them down once and for all,” Joel added.

  “What do you need?” John asked.

  “Fallen told us about some special shipments coming out of the stockyard.”

  “Fallen, huh? Is she back in town?” John asked.

  “Yeah, she came back, she’s looking for answers about her sister. She’s the one that told us about these special shipments.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “Well, we need evidence that Justice is breaking federal laws by shipping contraband out of state.”

  “What do you think he’s putting in these shipments?” John asked warily.

  “We think he’s shipping illegal drugs out with the meat. It’s going over state lines to Arkansas and Texas that we know of.”

  Silence fell on the other end of the phone. Finally, John said, “So it’s true then. Justice Zetran is just a fucking drug dealer.”

  “That’s what it looks like.”

  “What do you need from me?”

  Joel sighed. “We need proof of where those special shipments are going, who’s picking them up, and what’s in them.”

  “That’s a lot to ask old man,” John finally said.

  “I know but if you can get us some information on where the shipments are going we might be able to stop one of the trucks and find out what’s in them. I don’t want you or anyone to get hurt.”

  “That I can do if you can stop them from getting through,” John told him. “I can take a picture on my phone and send it to you, then delete it and no one will be the wiser.”

  “That would help us a lot,” Joel admitted.

  “Who exactly is us?” John asked.

  “I’m working with the Thor’s Hammer MC.”

  John was quiet on his end of the call. “Are they planning on replacing the Zetrans in controlling this town?”

  “No that’s not what they want,” Joel told him quietly. “All they want is the truth about the death of one of their own.”

  “The man Wynette went to prison for killing?”

  “That would be the one,” Joel admitted.

  “Did they get their answers?”

  “Yep, they got their answers. That’s what started this whole takedown.”

  “Well, good luck to all of us then. We’re going to need it to pull this off,” John told him.

  Joel ended the call and went back into
the main room to report to Ajax. When he got there, he looked at Ajax and nodded. “He’s willing to get us what we need but you might have to stop one of the trucks and have a look see inside on your own. I don’t think even Justice is stupid enough to put what’s inside the meat on the packing label as contraband.”

  “Just find us one of those trucks and we’ll take care of the rest.” Ajax growled.

  “We’d have to hijack the truck over state lines in order to make it count against the Zetran’s,” Fireball reminded them.

  Ajax nodded. “And I know just the men to do it.”

  “The Ragger brothers?” Fireball asked.

  Ajax nodded.

  Several of his men groaned in the background.

  Ajax raised a brow at them all. “Yeah, yeah. I know. But they’ll take the truck and hold it for us. And they hate the drug trade.”

  “As long as those psychos don’t destroy the evidence before we can get someone in there to take control of it,” Moon grumbled.

  Ajax barked out a laugh. “Oh, you can almost bet on that. They’ll like the fact we’re planning on taking out the one family they hate.” He nodded. “The Zetrans have a lot to answer for and we aren’t the only ones who want them to answer for their actions.”

  “Well, our friends should be here soon,” Fireball reminded them. “They can tell us more what we can do to get the evidence they need to tighten the case against the family.”

  Ajax glanced at the clock and nodded. “Yeah, they’ll be here soon enough, but they’ll be happy with what we got to share with them. The more evidence we can get, the tighter we’ll box them in.”

  “The more you block them in, the harder they will fight to stay outside the box too,” Wynette pointed out.

  “How can you prove that Liam killed my sister?” Fallen asked her. “They may not take your word for it. They’ll call you a liar and it may stand because you’ve done time in prison. You realized that don’t you?”